And all the Light shall Die
by Ariadne The Alchemist
Summary: Movie based. Edward, what about the heavens fascinates you so? EdXHeiderich, Elricest if you squint. Warnings, angst, strangeness, death.


…the muse has bitten again, at midnight, go figure. When I was listening to Coldplays "Clocks" I decided I needed to write this, NOW, if I was ever going to keep my sanity.

First attempt at _real_ angst, and some…erm…weirdness I guess. Warning, I only edited this thing once, so expect some mistakes…

(sigh) I hope it is liked. Heiderich's POV, a bit AUish, rather short. Please forgive if I get a few technical things wrong (haven't seen the movie yet.)

Please enjoy.

* * *

_And all the lights shall die, one by one…_

_

* * *

_

"Well, I suppose I just want to make a name for myself, you know? Be apart of the very _first_ ship in _space._ I mean, its space! The unconquered realm! That should earn me at least a footnote in the history books, eh?"

"Pah, you can have your little footnote, I'm going to have an entire _article._"

_Laughter._

"Don't get all worked up yet, we haven't even gotten this hunk of metal off the ground."

"Yeah yeah, we just need some more time is all. If we can't do it, the _finest_ minds in Munich if I do say so, then who can?"

"Oy! Heiderich, what's your big reason for being here, eh?"

_And then the lights shall be reborn, slowly, and will consume the Earth._

"Heiderich?"

_Then everything can finally begin._

"Hey! Sind sie fein?"

I jumped at my own mother tongue. "Huh? Yes, I'm all right, just… thinking."

"_Merkwürdige…"_ Someone whispered, I couldn't tell whom.

"Not strange," I said quietly "Maybe if everyone did some more thinking we _could _actually fly. And in answer to your question, I build to explore what's out there. We can't be the only ones in the great vastness of space, hm? And," I continued, grinning, "_You _may have your footnote, and _you_ may have your article, but I'm going to have a nice fat book, with no less than five hundred pages."

We all laughed.

"Very good very good, hmm, what about him do you suppose?"

My stomach twisted when he motioned to my gold-eyed friend.

"Edward? Strange guy, isn't he?"

"Yeah, strange. Stranger than our Heiderich here, definitely." I pretended not to hear.

"I think…" I began. They all curiously leaned in closer.

"I think he's trying to find something," I said.

"Find what?"

I shook my head. "Now that… that's something only he can tell us."

_But all things that begin... must end._

_

* * *

_

"_I can barely see the stars from here, how am I suppose to study 'em with all the light and smog and... blah!" Edward crumpled up his paper in dismay and hurled it on the floor._

"_I know, the viewing isn't very good around here. Maybe we can go out of the city sometime, there's this huge farmland not too far away. It has some of the clearest sky's you'll ever see, no lights around anywhere."_

"_Together?" he asked quietly, like he was daring me to do something unheard of._

"_Um… yeah, if that's okay…"_

_He got that bleary-eyed look that he gets when he's thinking about something deep._

"_Sounds nice…" he said, so quietly I had to strain to hear him._

_

* * *

_

I awoke to harsh banging on my door. Panicked that there was some emergency, I stumbled out of bed, briefly glancing at the clock (2:48 A.M.) and quickly unlocked my door.

I was a bit dismayed when I found it was only Edward, still in his pajamas looking as dull as I probably did.

"I want to see the stars you were talking about," he said right away, sounding more like a child than an eighteen year old man.

"Huh?"

"The field you were talking about. Take me there, please?"

"What brought this on?" I asked, bewildered.

"I can't sleep."

"So you want to walk three miles to look at stars? At almost _three_ in the _morning_?"

"Yes."

I looked at him carefully then examined myself.

"Ed, we're both in our pajamas."

"So?"

"They'll get muddy."

"We can wash them."

I sighed in frustration. "Can I at least get some shoes on?"

"…fine, but hurry up."

_Bossy…_ I thought bitterly, groping for my shoes under my bed and pulling them on, not even bothering to find socks. Edward was already half-way out the door by the time I got downstairs.

Thankfully, I was awake enough to grab a light before I headed out. It'd be hard to find the place if I could see nothing but dark…

* * *

Ed faithfully followed me all the way there, never breathing a word.

* * *

"Well… here we are," I said plainly, not being able to think of anything grander. 

Silence. Even with the dim light I could see Ed's eyes were so glossy that they almost glowed. I don't even think he was breathing. He fell back quietly into the grass, like he wanted it to swallow him up.

"You're going to get dirty," I said, but still sat down next to him.

I looked up.

And I swore at that moment one of the heavens had ripped itself open, just so we could see it tonight.

There was no moon. There were no clouds, only the endless tide of blinking specks set before us. Everything… stilled, like the universe was holding its breath.

"It's…" I breathed, "It's… it's so…" No words came to me. None were available in either of my tongues that could do this justice anyway.

"I know," he said quietly, understanding all the same.

We listened for a while, not hearing anything, but still listening all the same. Just in case someone decided to speak to us, but it would probably be a Ghost on a night like this…

"This is where I decided I wanted to explore them, those stars," I said, blurting this secret rather suddenly.

"I was only five," I hurriedly told, "I was with my brother, and we got lost out here… I saw a shooting star and that… that just…" I laughed a bit, "Kinda silly isn't it? Sorry…"

He only gave a slight hm.

I tried again. "Um… Ed? If you don't mind, I was wondering… why do you want to build the rocket so badly?"

Even in the darkness I knew he was smiling. "Would you believe me if I said I was in it for the money?"

"No," I said promptly.

"What about glory?"

"Hm… no, I don't think that's it either."

He then said, "It's because I need to find a way. That's all, no other reason I can offer. There's someone…"

"A someone…?"

"Never mind." I decided to respect this.

"Or maybe," he said somberly, "it's because I want to meet a star."

What an odd thing for him to say! I bit my lip in an attempt to hold my laughter, but failed.

"What's so funny?" he growled, "You think I was kidding?"

"Sorry, I'm sorry, it's just that you probably can't exactly _meet_ a star, you know?" I burst into playful laughter again. He reached over and punched me in the arm, which quieted me.

"Ow…" I mumbled. Why does he have to be so violent?

His glowing eyes set on me like a wild animal. I worried a little, was he really _that _angry? I was just teasing...

But a second later his hair was falling across my face, those wild eyes looked right into mine. Before I knew it he had kissed me, a kiss under the stars for all the good and terrible things to see, and it was _wonderful. _Despite the guilt and funny feeling in my chest, I kissed him back. Oh, was it a _kiss..._

When he finally pulled away, he flatly said, "There, maybe that'll get you to shut up."

So we sat together and enjoyed the sky.

* * *

Ed faithfully followed me all the way back home, never breathing a word. 

I didn't argue when he followed me to my room, our clothes dirty with dew and mud, but we didn't bother to change. I was exhausted, he was tired as well. We silently squished together on my tiny bed like lovers might do, and slept through the dawn's killing of our stars.

* * *

_Edward… I do… I really do… love you. Let me help you… please._

_

* * *

_

_Some time later…_

There stood two figures amidst a gloomy scene. The sky is grey, a sickening grey, the kind of grey that sets everyone in a bad mood. Neither was very fond of the sky right then.

One is on his knees, rubbing his hand again and again over the cold stone, on this lifeless land, where only the dead resided. He was mumbling a twisted mantra to himself.

"Brother…" The smaller figured whispered, "Please…"

The other whirled around angrily and shouted, "You don't get it, do you! Huh? Are you just too _stupid?_"

He shamefully shuffles away, shocked at what he dared to speak. But the smaller just kneels beside him and lovingly touches his shoulder.

"He'll… he'll never…" The kneeling one's face becomes distorted, his voice chokes in his throat, is that a trace of humanity? "He'll never get to see the…" he breaks down.

"I know Brother… I know…" and he held him while all his stars died.

* * *

_All things have finally faded._

_Rest, rest now._

_

* * *

_

Aug 15. Made a few slight alterations. I think it makes a tad more sense now...

(sighs) I hope that wasn't too "out there," or the bad kind of weird…like I said, the muse strikes in odd places.

Good night,  
Love ATA.


End file.
